Duplicate-whist apparatus.



No. 654,249. Patented July 24, I900. M. C. HAMMOND.

DUPLICATE WHIST APPARATUS.

(Applicaflcd filed Mar. 1, 1900.;

(No Model.)

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MARCUS C. HAMMOND, OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.

DUPLICATE=WHIST APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 654,249, dated July 24,1900.

Application filed March 1, 1900. Serial No. 7,015. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARCUS C. HAMMOND, a citizen of the United States,residing at Savannah, in the county of Ohatham and State of Georgia,have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Duplicate-\VhistApparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to devices to retain sets and subsets of cards in acompact manner and peculiarly arranged for playing duplicate whist; andone object of my invention is to provide card-holding devices which willpermitthe cards of each subset to be easily introduced therein orremoved therefrom, although a constant but light pressure is bearingupon the cards while in the holders, so that new cards will not readilyescape therefrom and old cards which become thicker with use will bereadily introduced into the holders.

Another object is to facilitate speed in replacing the cards forduplicate play by permitting each player to pack his cards in hisholder, and thereby help the dealer.

Another object of the apparatus in duplicate whist is to prevent theplayers from knowing on the duplicate whether the hand he is holding washeld on the original by the player to his right or the player to hisleft unless he surreptitiously looks at the reverse side of his smallcase.

Another object is to provide cardholders of light sheet metal, asaluminium, of the size of playing-cards which can be easily placed in acoat-pocket without requiring additional wrapper or fastening.

I attain these objects by the construction illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of acardholder containing four subset-holders constructed in accordance withmy invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the subset-holders.Fig. 3 is aplan view of the blank of one of the subset holders. Fig. 4is a longitudinal section of one of said holders. Fig. 5 is a transversesection of one of said holders. Fig. 6 is a modification of thecardholder shown in Fig. 1, in that its opening is on one of its narrowsides. Fig. 7 is a modification of the card-holder shown in Fig. 2,

in that its opening is on one of its narrow sides.

The apparatus for one set consists of four small holders or cases B,each of a size to hold one-fourth of a pack of playing-cards. Said casesare preferably made of sheet-metal, as aluminium on account of its lightWeight and brightness; but other sheet metal or other suitable materialsomewhat springy may be used for the same purpose. Said cases B arerectangular and have a top I), provided with bent end flaps c, which aresubstantially rectangular and of a depth sufficient to hold the desirednumber ofcards between them, a back cl, which has no flaps, and thebottom 6 of the case. Said bottom is also provided with end fiapsf,which are tapering, being at the inner end wider than at the outer endto perrnit the free edges of the top b and of the bottom 6 to approacheach other, the metal being suitably bent and sprung at the back cl forthat purpose. The outer case A, capable of containing a set of foursubsets, is constructed similarly to the small cases B, but the back andflaps are wider. To permit the cards to be easily withdrawn from theircase, a portion of the top and bottom of each case is cut away, as shownatg. To facilitate the introduction of the cards in the case, the bottom6 is made about a quarter of an inch longer than the top, so that byplacing the sides of the cards upon the extension of said bottom andpressing downward the aperture is opened enough to permit the cards toslide into the case.

Four of the small cases, each holding thirteen cards, are inclosed inthe large case A. The five cases-one large and four small comprise aset. On top of each of the small cases is stamped, printed, stenciled,or painted the word Duplicate but said word on the case of the leader ispreferably within a diamond-shaped inclosure with the word Lead. On thebottom of each the word Original is printed and either one of the wordsNorth, South, East, West, or the letters N, S, E, W, and in use inplaying the cases will be distributed to the players in accordance withthese words or letters and the positions the players occupy in respectto the points of the compass. The letters on three of the cases areplain, but on the fourth case they are inclosed within a figure, (as astar or diamond,) indicating that the player holding this case shalllead. The numeral (in the star or diamond) on top of the large caseindicates the number of the hand for purpose of scoring and comparingtheplay on the original and duplicate.

The devices for holding the cards present many advantages over others intheir fornr and in the ways they are used in the play. The cases, beingof metal, are very durable. They fully cover the cards when the smallcases containing them are inserted within the large case to store them,the notched edge g being preferably placed in the bottom of the largecase, the springy cover preventing them from slipping out.

A great defect in all the methods or devices now in use in duplicatewhist is that the leads on the original play rotate in regular order inthe same direction, and in nearly all cases they rotate in one directionon the duplicate play. Some methods have endeavored to overcome thisdefect on the duplicate play by having some of the hands turn to theright and others to the left, but little advantage has been obtained,because on the original the lead on any particular deal is always by thesame person and also on the duplicate. For instance, take deal No. 1,(with former devices.) If the lead is north on the original and east onthe duplicate, it will always remain so no matter how often played, andmemory players soon learn in which direction certain numbers turn.

With my devices, while the hands are played in consecutive order on theoriginal, so as not to complicate the scoring, the leads do not rotatein consecutive order on the original or duplicate play, and by simplyshifting the cases the order can be entirely changed each time they areplayed with. This is accomplished by having the number indicating thedeal on the large case only and the small cases arranged so that on theduplicate half the hands will turn to the right and half to the left,and even if the cards were not shuffled and dealt anew it would beextremely difficult for any player to remember any of them well enoughto be able to take advantage of what he remembered; but if in additionthe trump was changed there could be no possi ble need to deal the cardsmore frequently than every third or fourth game, and they might be usedindefinitely by occasionally shifting the cards in two of the smallcases in each set.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the same kind of springy card-holding devices areshown; but their opening is on one of the narrow ends. The large holdercontaining four subset-holders is shown at A and the subset holders at13.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim- 1. A duplicate-whistapparatus consisting of four independent card-holders, each holderconsisting of sheet material bent toward itself about halfway of itslength to normally bring its ends toward each other, said ends havingcrescent notches therein, and the side edges of each holder bent tooverlap each other, substantially as described.

2. A duplicate-whist apparatus consisting of four independentcard-holders, each holder adapted to receive and clasp a fourth of apack of cards and consisting of sheet metal bent and sprung towarditself about half-way of its length to normally bring its ends towardeach other and the side edges of each holder bent to overlap each other,in combination with a holder adapted to receive the four independentcard-holders and constructed similarly to, but wider than the fourindependent card-holders, substantially as described.

3. A duplicate-whist apparatus consisting of four independentcard-holders, each holder having springy bent sides united at theirinner ends and their outer ends adapted to approach each other, withoverlapping sides, said holders having on one face the word Original andon the opposite face the word Duplicate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARCUS C. HAMMOND.

Witnesses:

MARY E. W. PALMER, EDW. A. EVE.

